It is difficult to overstate the allure and the fascination which the game of poker has had over its long history. Although the game of poker is almost universally known, it will be helpful to describe the basic rules. In particular, a standard deck of playing cards consists of at least 52 cards, divided into four "suits", namely spades, hearts, diamonds and clubs, each suit having thirteen cards of varying denominations. Within each suit there is an ace, a king, a queen, a jack, and each number between two and ten, with the ace functioning as a "low card" having a numerical value of one, and also being available to function as a "high" card with a higher ranking than a king.
Although numerous variations of poker exist, virtually every variation includes placing at least five cards in the possession of each player. The cards form a "hand" under well-established rules. A player may have a single "pair" of cards of a given denomination (e.g., two jacks), or three of a kind (e.g., three fives) or four of a kind (e.g., four tens). It is also possible to have two different pairs (e.g., two queens and two eights). Another hand includes both three of a kind and a different pair (e.g., three tens and two fours), which is known as a "full house". Still another possible hand consists of five cards of the same suit (e.g., five cards from the "hearts" suit) which is called a "flush". It is also possible to have a run of consecutive cards (such as 8-9-10-Jack-Queen) which is called a "straight". When the cards of a straight are all of the same suit, an even higher ranking hand is generated, namely a "straight flush". The various hands have relative rankings according to well-defined rules. In a typical game of poker, the highest ranking hand wins, although well-known and popular variations exist in which rewards are available to the lowest ranking hand.
Numerous variations of poker have developed which add excitement to the game. One or more cards may be dealt "down" so that the identity thereof is known only to the player, with other cards placed visibly on the playing surface for the opposing players to see and evaluate. Another popular variation is "draw" poker, in which each player may discard some of his cards and replace them with new cards. Still another variation includes providing each player with more than five cards (e.g., seven card stud), which allows a player to select his or her most advantageous five card hand from the seven.
As a further variable, poker is sometimes played with one or more "wild" cards, which may be any card agreed upon by the players in advance, and which may be designated by the player who receives it to be any card in the deck. Wild cards provide each player with enormous flexibility and tend to promote higher ranking hands and, consequently, more excitement. In many instances, one or more "jokers" is added to the standard deck of 52 playing cards to function as wild cards.
Although poker has been and remains endlessly fascinating to many players, it obviously has its drawbacks. For one thing, with a single deck of standard playing cards, there is a limit to the number of persons who may play at one given time. When playing a variation of poker in which each player utilizes only five cards, no more than 10 persons can play at any one time. When playing "draw" poker in which each player may use as many as eight cards in a given hand, there can be no more than six players at once.
As a further matter, in order to play a conventional game of poker, it is necessary to have a deck of playing cards which is both complete and in good condition. If even one card is lost, a proper game of poker cannot be played. If one or more cards gets bent or otherwise harmed, the play of the game may be severely impaired, since it may become possible to improperly identify a playing card from its reverse side.
As a further matter, the game of poker can in some instances become quite boring. There are few if any variables to the game, such as lucky numbers or letters, other than the random dealing of the cards. Moreover, it is impossible for more than one player to receive the benefit of a given card. Thus, for example, if one player knows that he has three aces, he also knows that at most one other player has one ace and all the other players have no aces at all. In some circumstancess, this can limit the excitement and intrigue of the game.
Over the years, games have been developed which attempt to capture the excitement and intrigue of poker, but which themselves have had serious limitations. Thus, in U.S. Pat. No. 1,723,377 in the name of Irving Salomon, there is provided a poker game in which each player is provided with a board having five rows and five columns for a total of twenty-five locations, with the representation of one playing card appearing in each location. In the Salomon game, the playing boards themselves each already have relatively desirable poker hands in each of the horizontal rows and in some of the vertical columns. The play of the game requires a conventional deck of playing cards. To play Salomon's game, one card at a time is turned over from the deck of playing cards. Since each player's board only has twenty-five cards, there is less than a fifty-fifty chance that any player will have the overturned card on his playing board. If the player has the overturned card on his board, he places a marker thereon. The play continues with more cards from the deck being overturned. It can be readily appreciated that, at different stages of the game, some players will have more cards in their hands than other players. Indeed, it is possible to play Salomon's game with one player achieving a complete poker hand, while other players are totally left out and have no cards at all in their hands. The players who do not even add cards to their hands are quite obviously left out of the excitement, since it is impossible to develop a competitive hand when a player does not have a hand at all.
Other attempts have been made to utilize playing cards to create a new type of game. For example, British Pat. No. 1,172,231 in the name of Frederick J. Mortimer discloses a game in which each player is given a board having various representations of playing cards thereon. However, in the Mortimer game the boards are arranged by suit and in descending order of denomination, and only a few denominations from each suit are provided. A deck of playing cards is utilized with one card being turned over at a time, and the game which is played is not poker, but bingo. Other prior art games, such as U.S. Pat. No. 3,618,952 in the name of Ronald J. Tallarida, likewise utilizes representations of playing cards, but is simply not a poker game.
Accordingly, it is the object of the present invention to provide a new, different and exciting poker game.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide such a poker game in which more persons may play at the same time than is the case with conventional poker.
It is another object of the present invention to provide such a poker game in which no conventional deck of playing cards is necessary for the game to be played.
It is yet a further object of the present invention to provide such a poker game in which each player always has the same number of cards as the play progresses.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide such a poker game in which each playing board provides each player with a random but equal opportunity to succeed, as well as an opportunity to achieve any and every different poker hand in a given game.
It is still an additional object of the present invention to provide such a poker game having a variable other than the cards themselves, such as numbers or letters.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide such a poker game in which it is possible for more than one player to have the benefit of particular cards in a given hand.
These and various other objects and advantages of the present invention will become clear from the following detailed description of an exemplary embodiment thereof, and the novel features will be particularly pointed out in conjunction with the claims appended hereto.